An adaptive cruise control system—sometimes called an autonomous, active or intelligent cruise control system—is similar to a traditional cruise control, but uses additional sensing equipment to detect other objects, e.g., a target vehicle in front of and in the same lane as the user's vehicle. For example, when a user sets a vehicle speed to 60 miles per hour (“mph”) under control of the adaptive cruise control system, and the vehicle approaches a slower-moving target vehicle in the same driving lane, the adaptive cruise control system causes the vehicle to slow down. The adaptive cruise control system uses throttle and brake controls to first reduce the speed of the host vehicle. Then, the adaptive cruise control system controls the speed of the host vehicle to maintain a particular distance between the host vehicle and the target vehicle. The particular distance is based on user selection, sensed weather conditions, sensed road conditions, and other factors. The adaptive cruise control system controls the speed of the host vehicle to be at the lesser of 1) the speed necessary to maintain the particular distance and 2) the user-set speed. However, when the target vehicle is driving erratically (e.g., frequent braking and speed fluctuations), the host vehicle begins to mimic the bad driving behavior by continually decelerating and accelerating, which can lead to an undesirable driving experience.